First Date or April Fool's?
by keilen
Summary: What will Fred think when Hermione comes into his shop on his birthday with a serious question? F/Hr Entry for the Twin Exchange Challenge


The tall, lanky, ginger was whistling happily as he flicked his wand at the door of the joke shop that he ran with his twin brother. The 'closed' sign switched to 'open' and a throng of customers poured into the store.

"Well, Forge, looks like today is going to be a busy one." Fred Weasley chuckled as his brother grumbled about being busy this early in the morning. His blue eyes looked around the store at the customers who had entered and smiled happily. Business was booming and things couldn't look brighter for the set of twins. Today was their thirtieth birthday and it was also April Fool's Day. George was in for a surprise when he made his way to the stock room. A few jars of Peruvian Instant Darkness powder stood at the ready to make restocking the shelves difficult.

A tiny bell above the shop door dinged and Fred looked up to greet their shop manager, Verity. Once business picked up they decided it might be best to hire another person to help manage all the paperwork that neither of the twins was good at. She waved merrily and made her way around through the many customers and around the back of the counter.

"Isn't today your birthday Fred? Why are you in here working?" She filled in the time card with the appropriate arrival time and took a seat on the stool to chat with the owner. He just shrugged and waved her question away before making his way out into the crowd to help customers with this or show them how that works. He had warned Verity the night before to stay away from the stock room… And the office… And the door to the flat above the shop, George was not going to get him this year. Fred had been planning these pranks for months now!

As the day wore on Fred began to notice that the shelves were looking a bit haggard so he called back to his brother who was running the till to go get some more product and bring it out. George passed off the job of ringing up customers to the lovely manager and a few minutes Fred laughed heartily as he heard the shrill cry of his brother who was instantly cast into darkness by the Peruvian Darkness Powder. Verity flashed Fred a look of warning but he just grinned cheekily at her and went about his business. George griped and complained as he stomped about the shop, constantly grabbing the wrong merchandise and having to trudge back into the darkness.

Two pranks and a stubbed toe later George was not in a great mood to say the least and it was only lunchtime for the shop. Fred laughed at him and tried to hug his brother merrily but George just threw a shoe at Fred's head!

"Fred! We are too old for April Fool's Day pranks! We are turning 30 today and I think you should grow up! I can only imagine what your wife thinks of you!" Fred howled in laughter as his twin tried to be serious and after many apologies George forgave him. They decided to close up the shop early to head over to the Burrow for Mrs. Weasley's annual birthday lunch.

"Fred! George! Oh my boys!" The twins walked into the kitchen of the Burrow and were engulfed by their mother who had not seen them since the Christmas holidays. They returned her hugs joyously and when they pulled apart Mrs. Weasley noticed the young girl standing in the doorway shyly. "Who is this pretty young thing?" She ushered the girl into the house as George introduced her as his girlfriend and shop manager, Verity.

"Verity – Mom, Mom – Verity. We've been dating for about two months and she runs the shop as the manager for us." Fred and George snuck away quietly as Mrs. Weasley bombarded Verity with questions about her personal life and then shoved a plate of food into her hands as a pre-lunch plate.

The twins found Ron, Harry, Ginny and Mr. Weasley seated in the living waiting for the call that lunch was ready. Ginny held a tiny, ginger baby in her arms and Ron and Harry were loudly discussing the latest Quidditch scores while Mr. Weasley was sleeping in the rocking chair.

"Baby sister! And baby!" The twins greeted everyone in turn and Fred took the baby from Ginny and cooed in her face. "She is so ADORABLE! Good job Harry, Ginny!" George laughed as he made silly faces at his niece and she cooed back up at them.

"Fred! You had better be careful with her!" Ginny stood up and watched her older brothers carefully with worry behind her eyes. Fred rolled his eyes as he handed the little one back to Ginny and roamed over to his younger brother and his best friend.

"Well, hello boys." Fred smiled as he patted them both on the head.

"Happy Birthday guys." Harry nodded at the twins and shook their hands. "Getting a bit old now aren't you?" Fred laughed raucously and slapped Harry heavily on the back.

"I think I'll go rescue Verity now." George laughed and fussed up his brothers' hair before taking off into the kitchen. A moment later his head peeked back through the door. "Mum says lunch is ready! DAD! MUM SAYS LUNCH IS READY!" Mr. Weasley jerked awake and cleared his throat. The entire party stood and piled into the kitchen to enjoy a spectacular lunch.

"Ah, Mum, you are too good to us every year." An hour and a half later Fred and George sat back in their chairs with hands on stomachs that were stuffed to the brim. They stood and pushed their seats back under the table. "We have to get back to the shop though. Lots of last minute pranks to be had today."

Mrs. Weasley engulfed them in tight hugs again before they escaped out the back door. Verity tried to deny the extra plate of food that Mrs. Weasley had prepared for her, saying she was "all skin and bones and needed to eat more". So with a heavy plate of food and a grin from George they all three apparated back to the flat above the shop.

"George, do we really have to re-open the shop?" Verity grinned at him after placing the plate of food in the ice box in the kitchen. She had a mischievous grin on her face that said "Let's get to the bedroom for the rest of the day." George groaned because the shop really ought to stay open for the remainder of business hours.

"Oh go on and have some birthday fun Forge! I can manage the shop." Fred smirked as Verity's smoky eyes disappeared into George's bedroom around the corner. With a loud thank you from him George disappeared quickly and Fred dashed down the stairs before he could hear Verity's loud giggles.

Although the store was open again it was completely empty. Fred sat on the stool behind the counter and leaned his head on his hands as his elbows rested on the counter. He closed his eyes and wondered what he was going to be doing for his birthday tonight when he heard the jingle of the door bell he disregarded it and continued his daydream. If they needed something they would alert him. A certain brunette entered his mind when he heard a throat clear and he popped open his eyes to see dark chocolate eyes staring at his. A blush crept onto his cheeks as he thought of the things running through his mind with the young woman standing in front of him.

"H-Hi Hermione! Can I help you find something today?" He smiled at her as she shook her head and took in a deep breath.

"I actually wanted to ask you if I could um…" She glanced around nervously "Er… Where's George?" She tugged at the hem of her long sleeve sweater as she looked around at the empty store. Fred raised his eyebrow at her before telling her exactly where George was. He wondered what she could have wanted from him.

"Okay, I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me tonight for your birthday." She said it so quickly he almost couldn't understand her. Then he almost couldn't believe her. He had wanted to ask Hermione Granger out for the longest time and here she is waltzing into his store asking him out for his birthday. What a crazy random happenstance…

"Well, Ms. Granger, where are you taking me?" He looked at her coyly before she swatted his hand. "I'm only joking. I would, of course, love to have dinner with you tonight." Fred smiled his dazzling smile at her as he took her hand and brought it slowly to his lips. Hermione's eyes grew wider and wider at the touch of his lips and a blush crept to her pale cheeks. With a happy smile Fred released her hand to let it fall back down to her side once more.

"Well, I… I suppose I'll see you once the shop closes. Will 6 be alright?" Hermione stumbled over her words as she took a step back. Fred nodded once and smiled at her.

"Are you picking me up or shall I meet you?" Hermione giggled, very uncharacteristic of her, and shook her head.

"I'll meet you here. At six. Please don't be late." The bushy haired witch smiled and turned on her heel to the door of the shop. Fred was nodding behind her back and blushed when she turned to look back at him with a shy smile. "Bye, Fred."

The lanky ginger behind the counter raised one hand and waved at her back as she stepped out into the busy streets of Diagon Alley and apparated away.

'Bollocks on George, I'm closing the shop and going to get ready, I must be presentable for her… For Hermione.' Fred's mind was racing as he flicked his wand to the open sign and it flopped to its opposite side for closed.

He nearly pranced up the stairs to shower and shave and to also make sure he had some clean clothes to wear. An extremely hot shower, half a bottle of shampoo and four laundry spells later Fred was standing in front of his tall mirror attached the closet in his bedroom. He was wearing black muggle slacks and a white button down shirt with a perfectly pressed collar. Foregoing a tie, because let's be honest… he could never figure out how one worked, he left the top button of his shirt open. His hair was an unruly but attractive mess, he could never figure out how to get it to lie properly.

As six o'clock approached Fred started pacing in his shared living room. What if Hermione was playing an April Fool's Day joke on him? It wouldn't be the first time a woman had stood him on his birthday. He ran his long fingers through his hair and groaned at the thought of the gorgeous Hermione. He had worked himself up to an excitement at the prospect of a date with her that it would crush him had she not shown up at exactly 6 p.m.

Outside the door of the twins flat Hermione breathed deeply in nervousness and excitement. She balled her fingers into a fist and raised her hand. Three sharp raps to the wood and she dropped her hand down to her side. Nervously she clutched a small piece of fabric in one hand and tugged at the black material of her evening gown. She had booked them a table at a small Italian restaurant in Muggle London, she had been there before with her parents and very much enjoyed it.

She was about to raise her fist to knock once more when the door was pulled open by her date for the evening.

"Hello Fred." Hermione smiled at him as his blue eyes looked her short dress up and down. "I hope you're ready." A nervous blush crept over her cheeks as he nodded and stepped out the door with her. She admired the way his button up hugged all of his muscles and with another blush she held up the black fabric in her hand. "I kind of want this to be a surprise." The ginger man raised an eyebrow at the blindfold Hermione held up in front of him.

"Hermione! We haven't even gone on our first date, let alone kissed, and you already want to blindfold me?" Fred raised a hand to his chest and pretended to be shocked as Hermione shook her and sputtered out an explanation. When Fred started laughing her rambling died out, "April Fools! I'm only joking 'Mione." He took the material from her hands and tied it around his head.

"No peeking, okay!" Hermione reached out and grasped his arm tightly. With a twist of bodies she apparated them to an unknown location in the heart of Muggle London, Fred planted his feet firmly on the ground before allowing Hermione to grasp his warm hand and pull him along.

"Where are we going Granger? Are we in the Muggle bit of London? Gah!" Fred's mouth was running a mile a minute as the young witch led him this way and that. After a brisk walk of five minutes Fred's patience was wearing thin and the young man's severe attention disorder was starting to peek through. He stopped firmly in the middle of their trip and cause Hermione to jerk back as she had been holding his hand rather tightly.

"Fred Weasley! What on earth are you doing?" Hermione released his hand and placed her hands on her hips in front of him even though he couldn't see her. "We have to get there or we'll miss our reservation!" Fred just crossed his arms and stated that he didn't want to be blindfolded anymore; he wanted to see the Muggle scenery and know where they were going!

"FRED WEASLEY! Move! Or I will move you myself!" Hermione was getting flustered at his impertinence and she stomped her foot on the ground. "And it won't be pretty!" Hermione huffed and crossed her arms as Fred reached up and pulled the blindfold off of his head. The witch blinked and just gave him a look that said put it back on and let's get moving. Fred grinned and shook his head at her.

"You know Hermione; I have wanted to ask you out for the longest time." Hermione blinked slowly, taking in his statement, her arms still crossed over her chest. "Then today you come waltzing into my store, TODAY, my birthday and the best holiday of all time, and then YOU ask ME out." Hermione's arms slowly dropped to her side as she started to realize what he was on about. "I really am beginning to think this is all a joke, a prank if you will."

"Fred…" Hermione's chocolate eyes looked up into his blue eyes, "How could you think such a thing? You know I'm not a fan of pranks!"

"Hermione we all changed after the war and who knows, maybe you developed a sense of humour to keep the pain at bay!" Fred's normally smiling face was bent into a frown as he stared at the ground beneath their feet. Hermione stepped forward to him and stroked his cheek with the back of her fingers.

"Oh Fred…" Hermione leaned up on her tippy toes and pressed her lips against his other cheek. He stepped back in surprise. "This is no prank, no joke, no humour developed after the war." She smiled shyly at the blush on his cheeks. "I'm simply acting on held back feelings that can now finally be expressed."

"Hermione… I think I love April Fool's Day even more now… "He grasped her tiny hand in his once more and covered his eyes tightly with his free hand. "Lead the way oh tiny one." Hermione giggled as she led the way forward once more.

There begins the first day in a long line of many for the future Mr. and Mrs. Fred Weasley.


End file.
